Despite a depressing 2-7 start to Josh McDaniels' tenure as head coach, Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis isn't ready to pull the plug on the operation, giving the embattled coach an endorsement following Sunday's loss to the Colts.
"As far as Josh goes, I have no issues," Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday. "I'm getting to know him a lot better. When you sign someone to a contract, don't you expect him to fulfill the contract?"
Entering the season with playoff aspirations, the Raiders have fallen apart. They've blown big leads, got shut out by a three-win New Orleans squad, and have been an undisciplined club.
In spite of the struggles, Davis attempted to squash rumors that McDaniels could crap out in Vegas after just one season.
"I like Josh. I think he's doing a fantastic job. That's why I hired him," Davis said. "We did an exhaustive search and found the person we believe is going to bring the Raiders to greatness."
The owner noted that the Raiders are still in the nascent stages of rebuilding the team under the new leadership.
"Life isn't static. It's fluid," Davis said. "You want to win at the end of the year and be the one holding the trophy. Obviously, we're not there yet. I know it's frustrating for the fan base. I feel for them. I'm a fan as well."
McDaniels noted on Monday that his meeting with Davis following Sunday's loss was normal.
"We meet every week after every game, including the preseason," McDaniels said. "That's a normal occurrence for us. He's been great. He's been great. He has the same urgency that we all do, if not more. He's been here a long time. He's seen this when it's been good, and he wants to win as bad or worse than anybody else does. He feels the frustration at the same time. He's been incredibly supportive. That's important obviously as you go forward. But we're all here because of him and we want to do well for him and we want to do right by him.
"Whatever he feels, I want to know what it is. I think that's my role, and my job is I hope I always understand where he's at and he doesn't hide anything from us. I appreciate the way he leads and his support, and you feel his urgency to try to do whatever he can do to help us get to where we want to be as fast as we can be there. I don't know what else I could ask from him."
Following Sunday's loss, an emotional Derek Carr said he was "pissed off" at the slow process the Raiders have made in 2022.
McDaniels understands the frustration of his players following the loss.
"We are building. I never use the word rebuilding or anything like that. This is the National Football League," McDaniels said on Monday. "There's not five years to do that, so we know that. I think there's a process that we're trying to go through. Certainly slower and more painful than anybody wants it to be. We share the same sentiment. …
"We all know we're evaluated on what we do and it's a production-based business."
For now, McDaniels will have more time to build on a disappointing start to his reign in Vegas.
